On my 20th i received a 280zx from my parents the exact year and model that i wanted (1983 2+2).. its in fantastic condition and relatively low k's on the clock (180,000km's is what i call low for an odd 20 year old car). It runs great and goes hard. I just replaced and bled the clutch slave cylinder as it sprung a leak two days ago. seems like it was still the original attached. My father is pretty much my guide and teacher into the world of automotive work. He taught himself when he was about my age, and now seems like passing the knowledge. He's always done everything himself, he's one of those guys that hates to give money to others if theres a possiblity he can pick up a book and do it himself.

What im asking in this post actually is that with my car being almost being stock, what can i do to get more power out of it. Im learning as i go along and im sure theres a great path ahead of me. Does anyone know any great resources to look for, for my specific car? That destroying the world in your z post is great for starters for a 300, anything like that for a 280? the problem is i dont really know myself what im looking for, maybe some online definitive guide that someone has written on tuning and working on 280zx's? maybe theres a book i can buy? Im not really looking to tool up my 280. Its going to stay relatively stock looking. Maybe a nice body kit (if i can find a great looking one for a decent price). where should i go to look for parts? Theres a place near me called "pick and pay less" ( www.pickandpayless.com.au ) that i was thinking of going to. If i go there what things should i look out for that id be able to use in the future of this car? Would i actually be able to find something to use like an intercooler? Or a part by a different manufacturer that'd work in my car?

I guess the main problem im having is that i just cant find enough information on the web with all the bullshit out there... i.e Ive installed an amp with two small subs to add a bit to the depth of the bass in my car, (i got the subbox with 2 10" and a 2 channel amp all for 150$AUD) almost brand new out of his imported skyline. (150? what a bargain! :P) anyway i notice theres 3 screw down connections. Ground , 12V Battery, and 1 more inbetween those two connections..
After sifting through about 100 random car audio forums i finally found 1 useful thing between all the "LOL YOUR CARSYSTEM SUX, ALPINES SUX, MY 20" QUASIMODO'S WILL OWN URZ AL TEH WAY 2 SUBZVILLE!!!!111" posts.... "kick-on" i believe ? (anyone wanna explain what it is and what its used for? and where / what do i connect it to?)

i guess ive said waht ive had to .. sorry for this fkn essay but im @ work and bored.. sorry to those that actually read this and then feel theyve aged..

but thanks to all in advance that are able to answer / help me out with some of my questions to an autoforums newbie.
Thats all for now.. be sure ill entertain you all with more long-ass boring sermons in the future.

cheers. -moodah

well first off i'm going to assume that your car is a turbo.. so yes, an intercooler would help improve horsepower a bit... but what's really going to get you moving is starting off with all the basics.. massive engine build... new gargantuan turbo, and 100 shot of nitrous to boot.... but seriously, stuff like intake, exhaust.. basically letting the engine breathe... a lot of what was stated in the destroying the world thread applies to cars in general... boost controllers... flow improvement.. all that stuff is done for a lot of turbocharged cars


victoria british has a bunch of stuff for the older model z's... more than i've seen in any other place at least.. order a catalogue from em if you haven't already (www.victoriabritish.com (http://www.victoriabritish.com)) they're good for random fix-it parts too

if i were you.. this is what i'd do in this order...
full exhaust
intake
boost controller
suspension work...shock/strut stuff
intercooler (most likely have to be custom fabbed piping and mounts)
and after that... well i'm too tired to put effort into thinking more...

"LOL YOUR CARSYSTEM SUX, ALPINES SUX, MY 20" QUASIMODO'S WILL OWN URZ AL TEH WAY 2 SUBZVILLE!!!!111"

LMAO... that's awesome... anyway, sounds like a steal of a deal... that post between your power terminals is a remote turn on terminal... there should be a wire on your head unit that says something about remote amp turnon... that way the amp's only on when your stereo's on... pretty handy little feature... at least that's what i'm assuming it is... that's what it is on my rf amp..

i probably haven't answered all your questions so perhaps other guys might be able to fill in more details.... if you've got any more questions about car audio i'd be happy to help, and k3 knows quite a bit about this stuff too..

yep, delerious was right on every account...

the terminal between the ground and the power terminals is your remote turn-on 12 volt lead...it connects to your head unit like delerious said, the head unit is usually a solid blue wire...there may be 2 blue wires, one with a white stripe...the one with the white stripe is your power antenna and the solid blue is your external amplifier remote turn-on...your cd player, when powered up, sends a 12V signal to your amp to let it turn-on, basically acts as a switch to complete the circuit.

to learn more on car audio, this site has an awesome tech section...glossary, definitions, why and how things work in stereo equipment...excellent!!!
http://electronixwarehouse.com/products.htm

about increasing performance out of your engine, get the victori britich catalog like delerious said, it is probably one of the bigger companies that deal with older Z's...only problem, most of their parts are OEM rather than upgrades...

i recommend you to the following company...this company puts out excellent products for our cars. they mostly deal with getting in depth with your project...cams, turbos, ecu's, fuel systems...stuff of that nature.
http://www.jimwolftechnology.com/

im sure other people on here will be able to recommend some other sites and what not...

ahhh thanks for those links from you two..

the lamest thing is i was sitting there thinking to myself "how the hell does it know when to turn on and off when the cars not on..." now i know. hahahah. i guess not having a head unit for it yet doesnt help.

any ideas where i should put the headunit? im thinking the glovebox.. i love the original radio which is 100% full working still with the brushed metal finish..


by the way.. its not a 280zx turbo. :) is it N/A? are all non-turbo cars N/A? i dont know much in this department.. i thought N/A is an upgrade / engine build...

I would like to turbo the engine if it is possible.. Ive grown attached to it in the short time i've had it so i dont really want to switch engines.. i just want to economically move up a rising hill with it :)

i still cant believe how torquey the engine is.. its such a pleasant and comfortable drive as well...

Moodah,

NA= naturally asperated or Normally asperated, no boost.
all NAs are non-turbo/supercharged.

But making power for a NA is pretty much like a turbo, increase airflow in and out and your fuel flow and you will increase power... There is a bit of work involved in a NA over a turbocharged car, you will have to work harder on alot less parts to make the same power, but you will do it with less money spent. But if money is not a problem then you can build a pretty strong turbocharged car or a strong NA engine..... its all a mater of how much your willing to spend and how far you are willing to go.

lol, in that case... no, an intercooler won't help you out... at all... yeah your engine is fine... for the time being ;) yeah, so just basic bolt ons... i'd get a custom exhaust done up for ya.. probably cheaper than trying to find parts on the net. just stick with basic bolt ons till you get used to the car... then go crazy with it:p

ah yeah i see now. haha

oh yeah. what i actually meant about going to the car yard was what should i look out for that i could use in the future? say i could actually find useful parts .. where would i look? what parts from other cars would actually work in my car? this is a place where you take your own tools and pull stuff out of other carcasses. i know friends who have gone and picked up sets of rims and other shonky pieces here and there.

I realise an intercooler really wont do dick without a turbo, but if i was to find one itd save me getting one later. Would a turbo fit onto an L28E very easily?

i'm not too sure about other cars... maybe older z's for like... oil caps or something? i dunno lol... as for strapping a turbocharger onto your l28e... i wouldn't recommend it... i'd say to go as far as swapping in a new engine if you were looking for that kind of performance.... perhaps an rb20det/rb25det... they're always good, perhaps an sr20det if you wanted.... or a vk45 and toss a couple snail shells on there for the hell of it :evillol:

hmm didnt really want to swap the engine until it got close to the end of its life.. i more wanted to see what i could do with it stock till it got to its limit.. im not rushing into things.. just wanting to see what the boundaries are and where i can go. ive grown attached to the engine somewhat... haha. i feel so gay now.

anyway.. what car did the vk45 come out of?.. i can only imagine the power from a tt 4.5L...

also.. anyone wanna explain what a popcharger is, what it replaces, and how it benefits the engine? some people call them cold air intakes?

A popcharger is just a name for an intake filter. It flows more air faster than the stock air box.

This (http://img150.exs.cx/img150/2167/10002483zi.jpg) is a popcharger. This particular one is made by JimWolf Technology, a long standing tuner of Z cars.

A cold air intake refers to an intake filter placed infront of the radiator and what not, meaning its pulling ambient temperature air from the outside (like say 65 degrees) instead of pulling air from the engine compartment (like say 100 degrees). Cooler air is denser and contains more oxygen by volume than hotter air. More oxygen means more fuel and more fuel means more power.

hmm didnt really want to swap the engine until it got close to the end of its life.. i more wanted to see what i could do with it stock till it got to its limit.. im not rushing into things.. just wanting to see what the boundaries are and where i can go. ive grown attached to the engine somewhat... haha. i feel so gay now.


well you could strap on a turbocharger then it will decrease the life of your engine significantly, so you can swap in a new motor quicker...:dunno: just my :2cents: :lol:

A cold air intake refers to an intake filter placed infront of the radiator and what not, meaning its pulling ambient temperature air from the outside (like say 65 degrees) instead of pulling air from the engine compartment (like say 100 degrees). Cooler air is denser and contains more oxygen by volume than hotter air. More oxygen means more fuel and more fuel means more power.

Allows you to advance your timing without detonation too. :iceslolan

-Mike

ahh. i see.. thanks for the help. im about to pick up a headunit for the car,.. anyone got suggestions to good placing for it? i dont want to pull out the original radio so thats outta the question.. just wonderin what other 280 drivers did?

ahh. i see.. thanks for the help. im about to pick up a headunit for the car,.. anyone got suggestions to good placing for it? i dont want to pull out the original radio so thats outta the question.. just wonderin what other 280 drivers did?

is there some place under the dash or in between the 2 front seats??? i see alot of hot rod owners put an aftermarket unit under the dash...

ahh. i see.. thanks for the help. im about to pick up a headunit for the car,.. anyone got suggestions to good placing for it? i dont want to pull out the original radio so thats outta the question.. just wonderin what other 280 drivers did?

Mr. Mike Man, Can I say this without being a WANKER? Being your from down under, put it down under............the dash. :evillol:

uh.. i think his name's terry man... have you been drinking albert?

I know, but both are from down under and being Terry is a noob and Mikeman isn't think it only proper to ask.

ooh ooh i get it now... just reread it like 3 times... man am i slow tonight

hahahahahahah... there doesnt seem like theres enough room under the dash i have some retarded friends who will probably wreck it with their knees. i might just have to put it in the glovebox. =(


the antenna motor on the car has gone as well.. i unseized the motor and got it working again but the plastic cog has been stripped inside it.. so its replace the cog or the whole thing. =\

i cant really fix it.. dunno where im going to find another cog. so i bought a new electric antenna to put in instead.. i fitted it in but theres 3 wires instead of the 4.. i "assumed" the original motor (seeming it kinda worked via electromagnets) had two positive wires a negative and an earth.. when the up on the radio is pushed it completes a circuit to make the motor spin forwards, and when the down is pushed it completes another circuit to make it spin backwards.. (i assume that both circuits are using the negative). does anybody know if this theory is right?... also, if it is, how am i going to wire the new antenna that has 3 wires? pos, neg and earth? any ideas?

pos, neg and earth? any ideas?

positive, negative, and earth??? isnt the negative the same as earth...i think it should postive, remote (AKA ACC., signal, or turn-on), and earth ground. like a standard switch. i dont know...im a little confused on how it works.

i think most newer motors just operate in one direction and it hits a stopper forcing the antenna to be powered back down and then anotehr stopper at the bottom forcing it to go back up. atleast thats how i perceive it but i am not electric engineer. this is all just signaled by a headunit when the motor turns on or off.

im thinking the 4 wires on your old motor are like this:
-12V battery (positive)
-remote wire so it knows to go up
-remote wire so it knows to go down
-earth ground

ths in cabin switch should maybe be a up/down switch...where you push it up and the antenna is supposed to go up and then you press the switch down and the antenna goes down. if this is the type of switch than i am probably correct on my 4 wire analysis. :D

hmmm. k3 id love it if you were right. it makes so much sense with the new motor thered probably be a small circuitboard or something.. but wouldnt your theory with the old motor mean it needs a circuitboard(to tell the motor which way to spin)? an as far as i can remember there wasnt any.. i dont know im just trying to put some logic into it.. i really dont have any idea with this shit.. just learning.. thanks for your help anyway. :biggrin: anyone else got any ideas?

As far as I know it goes like this:
1. Antenna lead to radio
2. Pos
3. Up
4. Down
and the antenna itself is ground to the body.

As far as I know it goes like this:
1. Antenna lead to radio
2. Pos
3. Up
4. Down
and the antenna itself is ground to the body.


ooh damn.. ..you wouldnt happen to know a way to wire in the new motor to the existing harnessing would you? So that it works properly like it's supposed to?

Im going to pick up a service manual for the car this week hopefully.

ooh damn.. ..you wouldnt happen to know a way to wire in the new motor to the existing harnessing would you? So that it works properly like it's supposed to?

Im going to pick up a service manual for the car this week hopefully.

dude, i think your just gonna have to test each wire and see what happens. you wouldnt need a circuit board if it was set-up they way i said...new motors only have one turn-on switch controlled by your radio...older car dont have this.

i see what you mean.. but bugger.. i was hoping to still retain use of the up and down switch on the radio. ah well,.. cant have everything.

i see what you mean.. but bugger.. i was hoping to still retain use of the up and down switch on the radio. ah well,.. cant have everything.

You can...all you have to do is figure out the wiring and your home free.

i see what you mean.. but bugger.. i was hoping to still retain use of the up and down switch on the radio. ah well,.. cant have everything.

yep, like Al said, just figure out the wiring and you will be fine. or what would be alot easier is if you just wired to the up/down switch and maybe only use it in one direction or if you wanted to you could wire to both directions. just split the wire in 2...good luck!!!